Changing Call Centers

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2009-03-23T15:00:00.000-07:00

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The North American Call Center Resource Guide for 2009

2009-01-07T13:51:00.000-08:00

The guide is perfect for anyone who needs answers to questions like:

What IVR technology company has experience in my industry?

How do I find a comprehensive list of chat technology companies?

A guide for anyone in the call center. The North American Call Center Resource Guide for 2009 will feature company and supplier listings by technology, vertical and solution.

Reserve your free copy now by registering above.

If you are a supplier and are interested in enhanced listings or display ads, please contact:

LLance@changingcallcenters.com

Passionate About Panasonic

2008-12-30T12:42:00.000-08:00

Some feedback from the gethuman Customer Service Excellence Experts group on Linkedin.com, there is an interesting discussion going on about passionate customer bases. We learned that Panasonic is earning customer praise by going far beyond any service expectations ever seen in the Dutch market.

" To be short, most important reason is because they found an outsourced service company with enough expertise and drive for quality service that they solve 85% of consumer electronics questions on the phone (most are settings problems) with clear (non-technical) instructions, check back with the customer if the problem is actually solved on the agreed moment and only if there is still a problem, send a mechanic.

This prevents customers from having to stay home all day/morning/afternoon for the courier, having to uninstall and miss their equipment for 5 weeks and staying at home for the return courier, after which the customer hopes their problem is solved. Also this is an advantage for Panasonic as even an expensive technical call and callback is still cheaper than a courier and servicedesk transaction. "

List of Chat Providers

2008-11-24T20:04:00.000-08:00

Many of you have asked, so we are providing an up to date list.

talisma.com
intellichat.com
boldchat.com
instantservice.com
livechatnow.com
livehuman.com
whoson.com
versochat.com
mywebchatlive.com
logicalware.com
chatjet.com
mimecast.com
live2support.com
bamboocricket.com
smartjabber.com
avchat.net
fuze.com
upsellit.com
123livehelp.com
echomail.com
sightmax.com
flashcoms.com

Cloud Computing for Call Center Applications - The New ASP Model?

2008-07-23T05:48:00.000-07:00

With moves by Amazon and Microsoft to provide companies cloud computing technology, I am wondering why there haven't been companies taking the next step to create application packages out of those clouds for the call center.

For example, here is a great list of reasons to have your IVR in the cloud from a hosted provider:

Why Consider The Cloud For IVR?
So why should you consider pushing your IVR applications out into the cloud? Talk to any provider of IVR hosting and several key themes emerge:

Scalability — With traditional IVR solutions, you have limitations related to the number of servers and lines you have in your facility. With IVR in the cloud, those are issues for your hosting provider. If necessary, you can scale massively to address seasonal concerns or other events. You can quickly add “lines” and capacity on demand. With some cloud-based providers, you may need to contact them to add capacity while in other cases that capacity may just automatically be added without you having to do a thing.

Deployment Speed — With cloud-based IVR, deploying IVR applications is no longer an issue of provisioning servers or adding lines to your telephony system. You simply upload your applications to your hosting provider, connect that application to inbound phone numbers or outbound calling —and start taking calls.
Ease Of Experimentation — Because of the deployment speed and the lack of need for equipment, it is extremely easy to “experiment” with new IVR applications. Want to try out a new call flow? A new application? It's easy to do. Want to see changes to your application happen in “real time”? Want to instantly deploy a prototype for people to try out? Again, the cloud makes all this easy.
Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery — With traditional IVR systems, what happens if you have some kind of natural disaster that impacts the office where the IVR servers are located? What if the proverbial backhoe slices through the network connection to that office? One of the strengths of cloud-based IVR is that providers typically have massively distributed and redundant networks that are specifically designed to always be there and to be able to survive these type of situations. With the right provider, you can be very sure that your IVR applications will be available to answer customer calls.

Cost Reduction — A key benefit of cloud-based IVR is, of course, reduced cost. With no equipment to purchase, there are basically no major up-front costs. By pushing the IVR applications out into a provider's network, the major IT costs are on the provider's end. You are really left with just usage costs.

Why just limit this to IVR? Why not have a full suite that covers all channels, like chat, Knowledgebase, email and CRM? It seems that there is a new opportunity for best of breed providers to team up with the cloud providers to create a new class of applications. Perhaps we will see new offerings coming out of some consolidations due to market conditions.

Far From Being Right, The Customer is Upset and Telling Others

2008-05-27T09:35:00.000-07:00

This weekend in the New York Times there was an article (found here) that brought up the age old question of, "When I call a company for service, why can't I talk to someone?". I think this article brought up a good point about companies not being interested in service so much as saving money. When this happens, customers talk about it.

Complaining about bad customer service is such a sport now that it should be an Olympic event. But I am curious about how it devolved into this, if there is anything I can do about it and if it is ever going to change.

A little history: These interactive voice response systems, known as I.V.R., which recognize speech or touch tones, began in earnest in the 1980s, and the idea was that they would cut costs by reducing the number of people a company needed to respond to customer complaints.

The trouble is, companies were more interested in saving money than customer retention.

If companies don't focus on retention and loyalty when they interact with customers, then what happens most of the time? Customer get upset and then find another company to do business with.

For the first time, American corporations are acknowledging “customer service as something worth paying for rather than just red ink,” said Dr. Jon Anton, who looks at call centers worldwide and, using a number of criteria, compares how well they work. “If you can satisfy customers and keep them buying, it’s as important as marketing.”

So, what are consumers doing about it? They are taking it right to the Internet. Will this help or hurt?

gethuman.com, in particular, provides a community for consumers to exchange information. Walt Tetschner, the director of the Get Human Web site, is an engineer by trade and now a consumer advocate. The Web site has been up for about two and a half years and has 10,000 visitors a day.

In May, the site also began asking visitors to rank those companies with great customer service. It then lists them on its Web site.

Airlines now getting award from GetHuman

2008-05-19T17:56:00.000-07:00

The first group of companies have been given recognition by GetHuman in the airline business.

"The airlines that are listed below have earned membership in the gethuman Great Customer Service Club by providing superior customer service. Out of over 30 airlines that are listed on the gethuman web site, these elite airlines are the only ones that have received the votes of consumers testifying to the high quality of customer service that they are providing.

We congratulate these fine airlines that have earned membership in the GetHuman Great Customer Service Club and encourage them to continue to provide excellent customer service. (http://www.gethuman.com/GCSC_Airlines.htm)"

The winners are:

Alaska Airlines
JetBlue
Southwest
Hawaiian
Virgin Atlantic

GetHuman Great Customer Service Club - Banking

2008-05-15T08:26:00.000-07:00

If you haven't already noticed, GetHuman is now focusing on the stars of great customer service. This website mostly known for helping consumers find ways directly to humans, is now using it's consumer driven rating and ranking engine to help show the best.

The first vertical that they have started to recognize is the banking sector.

"The banks that are listed below have earned membership in the gethuman Great Customer Service Club by providing superior customer service. Out of over 30 banks that are listed on the gethuman web site, these elite banks are the only ones that have received the votes of consumers testifying to the high quality of customer service that they are providing.

We congratulate these fine banks that have earned membership in the gethuman Great Customer Service Club and encourage them to continue to provide excellent customer service." (read more)

The banks listed include:

Commerce Bank
Frost Bank
RBC Royal Bank
First Direct

What we don't see is what the user feedback was to raise these companies to this stature. Also it would be nice to see how often this category will be ranked.

Even though this is a first for GetHuman, it is still a step in the right direction of encouraging great customer service.

My idea for Starbucks, 1-800-Starbucks, Not just another phone number

2008-04-14T13:53:00.000-07:00

I just submitted an idea to mystarbucksidea.com that leverages the 1-800-Starbucks phone number to deliver Starbucks services over the phone using agent-assisted IVR. Please vote for this click clicking here

CRM Magazine 2008 Rising Stars

2008-04-01T13:47:00.000-07:00

Just arrived in the mail today, April's CRM magazine with it's 2008 service award winners. For the category of Rising Star:

Spoken Communications
Coveo Solutions
Jacada
Telcordia

Customer-Focused Self-Service Not an Oxymoron

2008-03-10T22:19:00.000-07:00

The key difference between centers that fail and those that succeed is that the former tend to focus more on contact economics, while the latter tend to focus on customer experiences, says Ken Landoline, program manager with Yankee Group’s Enterprise Research group.

“Self-service investments focused solely on cost-reduction benefits are no longer a competitive differentiator. Improving the customer experience is now the goal of leading centers. When implemented properly, self-service can be a win-win solution for the customer and for the enterprise.”...

Explore “guided speech” IVR. Regardless of how much effort the center puts into making self-service engaging and user-friendly, there will be the occasional glitch here and there, or customers who don’t feel quite ready to let go of agents’ hands entirely. In such cases, most centers make it easy for callers to opt out of the IVR and reach a live agent who can help them with the rest of the call.

The latest trend takes a much more proactive and dynamic approach to assisting customers who embark on a self-service transaction. “Guided speech” IVR —a.k.a., guided IVR, agent-assisted IVR, hybrid IVR, et al. — combines the technological potency of advanced speech applications with, when necessary, the human intelligence and understanding of live agents. In centers that use guided speech IVR, designated agents serve as invisible IVR guides —assisting the center’s speech application with recognition on an as-needed basis...

Speech Technology Magazine - Secret Agents: The hidden value of someone behind the scenes

2008-03-03T16:40:00.000-08:00

Spoken Communications compares its agent-assisted interactive voice response (IVR) technology to the U-Scan brand. The Seattle-based company has carved a place for itself in the crowded contact center industry by selling a single product it says solves three major IVR-related problems: hold times, opt-out rates, and speech recognition errors. Using a technology that has been called everything from guided IVR to Wizard of Oz IVR, Spoken’s technology takes a hybrid approach to call handling, one that presents a front of nearly perfect natural language capabilities. Whether experts call this a clever trick or an insightful business decision, Spoken says it uses both an IVR and a human agent to achieve its goal of near-perfect call routing and increased customer satisfaction.

The company’s agent-assisted IVRs rely on silent agents who work behind the scenes of inbound customer calls. Listening in on several calls simultaneously, agents route callers to what they think is the most appropriate department after the customer answers only one synthesized question, How may I help you? As the call progresses, agents keep gathering information and continue routing calls as they see fit. Opting out is still a choice, but the company claims its technology boasts an almost 70 percent completion rate. And, with one agent handling multiple calls at once, Spoken has found that agent productivity increases fourfold.

Don't give your customers hammers

2008-02-07T16:51:00.000-08:00

Last October, a 75-year-old Manassas woman who got so fed up with her cable company and their automated phone system she that she attacked their office with a hammer.

Here's hoping that you never come to that. But if hearing things like, "please select from the following six options," makes your cringe then ABC 7/NewsChannel 8 is on your side with tip to help you get past the automation and get to the human.

"(The automated phone systems) are setup to save money as a cost saving device, they are not set up for ease of use or even to help customers in many cases," explained Voice Automation Analyst Walter Rolandi.

(source)

October CCCI: Call Center Chat Technology Provider Index

2007-09-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

CCCI: Call Center Chat Technology Provider Index (October top 12 ranked by Alexa)

The changes this month show Estara moving out ahead again past BoldChat. This is the second position change for Estara in the CCCI ranking in as many months. The biggest change in the Alexa rank is InstantService moving up 15% and Kana loosing almost 21% of its Alexa ranking.

Rank	Company	Alexa Rank	Change	Notes
1	Cisco	1,235	(16)	News , Blogs
2	Estara	25,793	4,167	News , Blogs
3	BoldChat (Bravestorm)	27,663	(1,722)	News , Blogs
4	LivePerson	35,231	(4,374)	News , Blogs
5	Avaya	38,407	(1,121)	News , Blogs
6	InstantService	60,191	10,711	News , Blogs
7	RightNow	89,010	(14,701)	News , Blogs
8	Velaro	109,208	(1,568)	News , Blogs
9	Talisma	266,688	(21,419)	News , Blogs
10	Egain	404,488	(2,646)	News , Blogs
11	Kana	648,008	(113,639)	News , Blogs
12	LiveHuman	692,451	39,943	News , Blogs

USPS pays customers to use its kiosks | SelfServiceWorld | Self Service World

2007-09-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

What a great way to get people to adopt your self-service. :

USPS pays costumers to use its kiosks | SelfServiceWorld | Self Service World: "The Greensboro (N.C.) News and Record: The U.S. Postal Service wants its customers to handle their own postage — and is offering cash prizes to those who do. At post offices nationwide, customers will get a chance at $250 daily cash prizes and a grand prize of $10,000 when they use the Automatic Postal Center kiosks instead of the counter."

September CCCI: Call Center Chat Technology Provider Index

2007-09-01T15:55:00.000-07:00

CCCI: Call Center Chat Technology Provider Index (September top 12 ranked by Alexa)

The changes this month show Estara coming out ahead of LivePerson, InstantService beating out RightNow and LiveHuman moving to the back of the pack in the CCCI rank. The biggest change in the Alexa rank is Kana moving up 11% and LiveHuman loosing almost 20% of its Alexa ranking.

Rank	Company	Alexa Rank	Change	Notes
1	Cisco	1,219	-10	News , Blogs
2	BoldChat (Bravestorm)	25,941	-2,008	News , Blogs
3	Estara	29,960	+1,945	News , Blogs
4	LivePerson	30,857	-3,554	News , Blogs
5	Avaya	37,286	-721	News , Blogs
6	InstantService	70,902	+4,952	News , Blogs
7	RightNow	74,309	-7,990	News , Blogs
8	Velaro	107,640	+1,522	News , Blogs
9	Talisma	245,269	+346	News , Blogs
10	Egain	401,842	-18,715	News , Blogs
11	Kana	534,369	+53,487	News , Blogs
12	LiveHuman	732,394	-144,862	News , Blogs

September CCEI: Call Center Email Technology Provider Index

2007-09-01T15:34:00.000-07:00

CCEI: Call Center Email Technology Provider Index
(September top 12 ranked by Alexa)

The big change this month is InstantService passing RightNow. There are several changes in Alexa ranks the biggest drop is LivePerson with an 11% drop in overall Alexa rank and the biggest increase is Kana with a 10% increase in overall Alexa rank.

Rank	Company	Alexa Rank	Change	Notes
1	Cisco	1,219	-10	News , Blogs
2	SalesForce.com	1,977	+185	News , Blogs
3	BoldChat (Bravestorm)	25,941	-2,008	News , Blogs
4	LivePerson	30,857	-3,554	News , Blogs
5	Avaya	37,286	-721	News , Blogs
6	InstantService	70,902	+4,952	News , Blogs
7	RightNow	74,309	-7,990	News, Blogs
8	Talisma	245,269	+346	News, Blogs
9	Echomail	285,001	-10,294	News, Blogs
10	Egain	401,842	-18,715	News , Blogs
11	Kana	534,369	+53,487	News , Blogs
12	Cosmocom	745,610	-60,227	News , Blogs

Spiegel Brands Inc. Implements Guided Self-Service Solution from Spoken Communications, Inc.

2007-08-23T05:35:00.000-07:00

Guided speech IVR is far more effective and efficient than IVR alone.

BELLEVUE, WA (August 21, 2007) – Spoken Communications, the only provider of Guided Self-Service™ solutions, announced today at SpeechTEK in New York, that Spiegel Brands Inc., a leading retailer in women's apparel and home décor, has successfully implemented its ground-breaking Call Guiding ™ Solution in the Spiegel call center. This sophisticated system has enabled many of Spiegel’s live call center agents to become guides, who silently monitor and assist multiple callers simultaneously to ensure self- service success.

Through its use of the Spoken Call Guiding ™ Solution, the Spiegel call center has been able to replace the traditional menu-driven touch-tone approach to receiving and routing calls. This new self-service solution enables a human guide to monitor and assist four or more simultaneous calls behind the scenes increasing the quality of the caller’s experience, while reducing caller frustration and lowering costs.

“By having our agents act as guides, we are able to provide our customers with a better experience than traditional IVRs”, says Tom Scott, CIO Spiegel Brands Inc. “One of the biggest problems with traditional IVR solutions and even sophisticated voice recognition systems is that a customer must conform to a fixed set of menu options. Guided IVR eliminates the need for menus and gets over 90 percent of the calls directed to exactly the right destination, in just one step. While traditional IVR completion rates have been less than 30 percent, we have been able to experience completion rates of over 70 percent with the Spoken Call Guiding Solution. That translates into a much better experience for the customer and a significant reduction in call handle time and cost.”

Proven Best of Both Worlds Solution

"After observing the Spiegel Guide handling multiple calls silently and efficiently, I could clearly see the potential that the Spoken solution offers to our industry," said Dan Faulkner, director of product management and offer marketing at Nuance Communications, a leading provider of speech and imaging solutions. “By providing the speech recognition engines that support the Spoken Guided Self-Service solutions, Nuance is helping Spoken deliver a compelling and successful application to improve the caller experience.”

The division of traditional IVR technologies and live agents has been a long-standing problem for call centers, creating operational inefficiencies and challenging caller experiences. Spoken’s solution is the best of both worlds. By having agents act as guides, callers are ensured a successful automated experience, call centers get a more flexible call response system and live agents can shift their focus to selling and away from routine servicing.

“We are pleased to offer the industry this innovative guided self-service solution that integrates the knowledge and expertise of human agents with technology,” said Bill Norman, Chief Operating Officer at Spoken Communications. “We all know the customer is any company’s most important asset, yet these customers have been left alone to try and navigate the limitations of IVR menus or speech recognition applications. Spoken Communications Call Guiding ™ Solution with silent agents changes all that by providing a simple ‘How Can I Help You?’ approach that works.”

About Spoken Communications

Spoken Communications provides the only Guided Self-Service™ Solution that has fully integrated the human call center agent and speech technology so agents are able to handle multiple calls -- silently and simultaneously. This innovative approach, developed by Spoken, ensures call centers and their customers will have self-service success. Spoken Communications is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. When the caller experience matters, Spoken Communications is the only choice. For more information please visit www.spoken.com.

Guided Self-Service and Call Guiding are registered trademarks of Spoken Communications, Inc.
###

Media Contacts:
Spoken Communications
Tonia Lopez-Song
Phone: (425) 679-0696
Email: spokenpr@spoken.com
Tags:
Spoken, Call Center, IVR

Finding estara.com info

2007-08-16T23:16:00.000-07:00

Look for www.estara.com info at http://www.changingcallcenters.com/labels/Estara.html

Info about www.InstantService.com

2007-08-16T23:14:00.000-07:00

Find out how www.instantservice.com compares at http://www.changingcallcenters.com/labels/InstantService.html

Looking for Rightnow.com

2007-08-16T23:12:00.000-07:00

Here is some ranking info for www.rightnow.com at http://www.changingcallcenters.com/labels/RightNow.html

Finding www.avaya.com

2007-08-16T23:10:00.000-07:00

For more information about www.avaya.com take a look at http://www.changingcallcenters.com/labels/Avaya.html

Liveperson.com stats

2007-08-16T23:08:00.000-07:00

Information about www.liveperson.com and ranking at http://www.changingcallcenters.com/labels/Liveperson.html

Looking for salesforce.com

2007-08-16T23:07:00.001-07:00

Find site ranking for www.salesforce.com here http://www.changingcallcenters.com/labels/Salesforce.com.html

Finding www.Cisco.com

2007-08-16T23:05:00.000-07:00

Find ranking to Cisco.com at http://www.changingcallcenters.com/labels/Cisco.html